Belmont County, Ohio

Belmont County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Saint Clairsville
Year Organized: 1801
Square Miles: 537

Court House:

101 W. Main Street
County Courthouse
Saint Clairsville, OH 43950-1264

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Residents named the county Belmont after the French term for "beautiful mountain."

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Formed on September 1, 1801, Belmont County was one of Ohio's earliest counties. It originally was a county in the Northwest Territory. Residents named the county Belmont after the French term for "beautiful mountain." Thousands of settlers migrated westward through Belmont County along Zane's Trace. The National Road also passed through the county. Quakers were among the county's first residents and many of these people became outspoken critics of slavery. Among them was the famous abolitionist Benjamin Lundy.

Belmont County is located in the east central part of Ohio and borders the Ohio River. The county's 537 square miles are part of Ohio's Appalachian region. The county is heavily rural. St. Clairsville, the county seat, was named for Arthur St. Clair. This city is the second largest urban place in Belmont County with just over five thousand residents in 2000. Martins Ferry is the largest community with approximately 7,200 residents. Typical of other predominantly rural areas in Ohio, Belmont County experienced a declining population between 1990 and 2000. The county averages 131 people per square mile and had a population of 70,226 people in 2000.

Despite its rural nature, most residents do not earn their livings through farming. Approximately twenty-five percent of the people are involved in sales, with another fifteen percent employed in service industries. Historically, many Belmont County residents found employment in the coal, iron, and steel industries. These businesses remain important employers today. In 1999, the per capita income was just over 20,500 dollars. More than sixteen percent of the county's residents were living in poverty.
Most voters in Belmont County claim to be independents. William Dean Howells, an author and diplomat, was among Belmont County's most famous residents. The county also was the birthplace of Ohio Governor Wilson Shannon. He was the first man to serve as governor who was born in the state of Ohio.

Sources

Belmont County Ohio History Central, July 23, 2008,

http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1898&nm=Belmont-County

Neighboring Counties:

Harrison County (north)
Jefferson County (northeast)
Ohio County, West Virginia (east)
Marshall County, West Virginia (southeast)
Monroe County (south)
Noble County (southwest)
Guernsey County (west)

Cities and Towns:

- Barnesville	village	Incorporated Area
- Bellaire	village	Incorporated Area
- Belmont	village	Incorporated Area
- Bethesda	village	Incorporated Area
- Bridgeport	village	Incorporated Area
- Brookside	village	Incorporated Area
- Colerain	township
- Flushing	village	Incorporated Area
- Holloway	village	Incorporated Area
- Kirkwood	township
- Martins Ferry	city	Incorporated Area
- Mead	township
- Morristown	village	Incorporated Area
- Pease	township
- Powhatan Point	village	Incorporated Area
- Pultney	township
- Richland	township
- Shadyside	village	Incorporated Area
- Smith	township
- St. Clairsville (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Wheeling	township
- York	township

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

Penn Foster High School

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